Not all World War One stories came to light at the time. It was not until October 1936 that the Beds & Herts Evening Telegraph, one of the the Luton News titles, revealed the remarkable story of Frederick Walter Allen, by then a police constable in Luton.

Possibly born in London (there was no mention in the 1936 story) and therefore not attracting the attention of the Luton Press at the time, he had enlisted TWICE before his 15th birthday, which he spent in the front line trenches in France and earned the 1914-15 Star. He was born on October 9th, 1900, and was therefore still 14 when war broke out.

An Evening Telegraph reporter went to Pc Allen's then home in Hampton Road, Luton, to be shown his service record. That revealed that he first enlisted on May 11th, 1915. On July 30th, 1915, he was discharged from the East Anglia (Essex) Heavy Battery for "having made a false statement about his age" - he told them he was 19.

The next day he joined the 27th Reserve Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers. He and a pal, both having been discharged from the Battery, were on their way to become sailors when they were stopped in Waterloo Road, and they were Fusiliers before they knew what had happened.

Young Frederick was drafted to the 22nd Battalion and after a few days of sketchy training, during which he fired 15 rounds on Salisbury Plain, he was off to France. But, said the Telegraph, a front line trench is not the best place for a boy of just 15, and he wrote home to see what his mother could do. She "blew the gaff" about his age, and he was in civvies again in practically no time.

That was in January 1916. But home seemed very tame after soldiering, and so Frederick decided to become a sailor. He entered the Navy as a "boy," and later he transferred to the Royal Marines.

A "boy" of 17 in the Navy was not allowed to smoke, but a fully fledged Marine of 17 could. So he transferred.

During his time on various ships he served in all parts of the world. After the close of hostilities he was engaged for some time in the Black Sea, where things were unsettled owing to the Russian revolution.

He left the Marines on July 16th, 1926. Three days later he started as a constable in the Luton Borough Police Force. He left the police force on October 9th, 1955 - his 55th birthday - with the rank of sergeant.